


Eclipses

by faufaren



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII, Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Reincarnation, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-19 06:31:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5957128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faufaren/pseuds/faufaren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Genesis is on a mission when he finds an unknown summon materia. (Or, in which Zack Fair is actually Gon Freeces, Hojo has been up to no good again, and Killua has waited a very long, long time). </p><p>Final Fantasy VII/Hunter X Hunter crossover. Reincarnation AU. Gen, but may change in the future. Rated violence, human experimentation, and slight angst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting

It all started with the monster that kept chucking spitballs at Genesis's head.

It wasn't a very large monster (though the size of the spitballs it produced was remarkably impressive for its size) or even a particularly uncommon one. But for a reason Genesis simply could not think of, it had a ridiculous fixation on his hair and covering it with slobber.

"My goodness--" Genesis ducked another globule of wet, slimy monster saliva. He almost cursed. "I swear to god if that gets in my hair!"

The monster only gazed at him dolefully, and spat one particularly large glob at him. With a disgusted exclamation, Genesis launched himself at the spitting abomination and neatly beheaded it. Then he set fire to its corpse, just in case.

He frowned when something shiny glinted half-hidden in the ashes, and gingerly toed it out with the tip of his boot. An eyebrow raised at the sight of a summon materia lying on the ground. Genesis picked it up, finding it odd to obtain a rare spoil from some common monster in the outer edge of Midgar. To add to the suspicion, upon closer inspection he discovered it was a summon type he'd never seen before, and that in itself was impressive, as he was Shinra's top magic specialist, and therefore extensively well-studied in the area.

But alas, he was on a mission and therefore could not go back to headquarters immediately to further study this mysterious summon materia as his heart so desired, and instead must continue on sloughing through Midgar's filthy, monster-infested construction sites. He made a face. It should be a crime to order him, Commander Genesis Rhapsodos and SOLDIER First-class of the Shinra army, to do _pest control_ for the plebeians. The nerve!

Genesis huffed, tucked the curious materia into his pocket, and continued his way.

* * *

"Hmm..." Genesis held up the red summon materia, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger and twisting it around in the light. He balanced perfectly on the back two legs of the chair he was lounging in, a foot on the table in front of him.

This was the scene that his companions arrived to, as Zack bounced into the kitchen, followed more sedately by Angeal and Sephiroth.

"Hey, Genesis!" Zack cocked his head to the side. "Ooh... What's that?"

Genesis craned his neck, glancing at the extra people in his apartment upside down before turning back to his materia. " _Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess, We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface, The wandering soul knows no rest._ " He quoted his beloved play almost absentmindedly, most of his focus elsewhere.

"I don't get it..." Zack trailed off, then pointed comically at the red orb he was holding. "But I bet it has something to do with that materia!"

"Yes, what is it?" Sephiroth stepped closer to examine the materia himself. "I don't recognize it."

Genesis sighed rather dramatically, then sat up from his position. "This, my dear friends, is a summon materia." Though, that much they could tell even without him saying it. He frowned a little. "But it isn't any summon that I know of. I've never in all my life seen a summon that I cannot identify, and that is what makes it so fascinating."

That was then they noticed the books and piles of paper spread out on the kitchen counter in front of the man. They also knew that it was a rather important matter if Genesis didn't know what exactly the materia was upon touch, because Genesis was _born_ for magic. He had a natural affinity for anything that had to do with it.

"Well, why don't you just activate it and see?"

Genesis froze in place, then turned to stare at Zack, who had spoken. Zack continued eagerly, "We could go to the gym and try it out right now!"

"Puppy..." Genesis looked utterly flummoxed at the moment, too busy berating himself for not thinking of such a simple solution earlier. "Alright, let's go."

Minutes later, they stood in one of Shinra's many gyms, recently cleared out by SOLDIERs who has seen the First classes approaching. Perhaps it wouldn't have mattered so much if it was only one or two of the elites coming, but the sight of General Sephiroth, Commander Angeal Hewley, Lieutenant Zack Fair, all headed by the Commander Genesis Rhapsodos, was altogether too much and they fled as soon as it was apparent the First classes intended to use the gym. They could go to another one.

Standing in the middle of the empty gym, Genesis looked critically at the harmless materia he still clutched in his hand. The others watched in anticipation.

Having decided that if anything went wrong he at least had three decently-capable SOLDIER First classes to back him up, Genesis gathered his magic, and gave a gentle tug at it. He was testing out the new waters first, because summon materia, unlike simple fire or cure materia, had _temperaments_ to them. There were some that responded with just a touch while others took an incredible amount of magic to summon.

He frowned when nothing happened, not even when he put in enough energy to normally summon Odin. The frown deepened into a scowl as he drew all his magic into himself. The others felt it in the air, when it thickened like paste and sparked with static electricity around Genesis, who poured everything into a final push/pull. It dispersed instantly once it was done. The materia still hadn't budged.

"Having difficulties?"

Genesis turned and glared at the General. "I am _quite_ fine, thank you very much."

"You certainly do seem like you need some help," Angeal remarked quietly, then winced when it wasn't quiet enough, and turned the redhead's wrath upon himself.

"If you two are oh so knowledgeable, then be my guest!" The materia thrown in the air moments later, and Sephiroth caught it neatly just before it flew over his head.

He held it in his palm, then activated it. Or at least tried to. A slight narrowing of the eyes were the only signs of frustration as he exerted his magic again and again. Genesis stood by smirking, watching him. "Defeated by a mere materia, Sephiroth?"

The General spared him a glance, hiding his dismay. "Quiet," he muttered, and tossed the orb to Angeal. "Perhaps you may have some luck in it."

Angeal held it to his eye and inspected it closely, but found no flaws in it, other than the fact that it refused to activate, even with Genesis's and Sephiroth's individual efforts. Still, not all was visible to the eye.

"Perhaps it is faulty? Or even a dead one?" He suggested.

Genesis scoffed. "A _dead_ summon? I highly doubt it. The summons themselves exist outside of our dimensional barrier, and materia are almost impossible to break."

"Hmm..." Angeal hummed, and gathered his magic. Nothing, as expected, happened.

"Ooh, I wanna try! Can I try?" And so it became Zack's turn.

"Have a go." Angeal handed the orb to him.

Behind him, Genesis laughed. "The puppy has absolutely no skill with materia, Angeal. What can he do that we can't?" 

Zack only grinned, holding it with both hands. "You never know unless you try. Well, here goes nothing!"

And the room exploded.

Not exactly. The materia suddenly emitted a bright, blinding light, and they were all thrown back by a giant wave of energy. All was silent once it ended, a ringing noise starting up in their ears as they struggled to open their eyes.

"Eurgh..." Zack groaned, trying to get out of the pile of training weights he had impacted with. He pried his eyes open, and blinked in surprise.

Because, the first thing he saw, besides the otherwise wrecked gym, was a white-haired boy standing in the center of everything.


	2. Greeting

Killua couldn't remember a time when there was anything but nothing. He couldn't see anything, it was dark (but what _was_ dark? What was there to see?), he couldn't hear or smell or taste or feel (but what did all those words mean? What were they _like_? What was like?)-- there was nothing.

For the longest time (but no, there was no time in here, what was time? And where was here?) he was left in that nothingness ( _nothing, nothing, nothing_ ). He was alone (what was alone? It was without. Just-- without) and alone was everything in that nothing.

But he had something inside of that nothingness-- a name. _Gon._

And it was all he needed to stop himself from simply dissolving into that pitch black void (black? What was black? Dissolve?), from losing his own name (Killua, it was Killua).

Names, he knew, belonged to people. So he was a person, and Gon was too.

He forgot who Gon was (forget? How could he forget? What was forget?), but there were things he associated it with like a round, soft coil of, of... of warmth (what was warmth? What did it feel like? Feel? No, it didn't matter because Gon was warmth). And he knew that Gon was good (even if he forgot what good was). It gave him hope (and hope, whatever it was, was also good, he knew with certainty, so Gon meant hope, too).

Then, there was suddenly something other than Gon and alone and nothing. There was-- what was it, a sensation, somethings that was calling (calling? Hearing?), and _everything changed._

He stood (stood? Standing? He could do that?) on something that was cool and something that sunk a little under his weight (he had _weight!_ ). There was light, air and lungs, sweat and dust and nose ( _breathing_ , he was breathing!).

But it was altogether too strong, too different. The floor felt like ice and rock (he remembered what those were!) and even the dust motes in the air was prickly like glass against his skin. His eyes ached and burned, and they started tearing up, and--

Person. People. _Adults._

A surge of breathless surpriseshockalarmfear overtook him and all his senses, and he didn't hesitate. There was no room for thought, just action.

Zack let out a surprised yelp as he dove out of the way as something blasted against the spot where he had been only seconds ago. The air sparked and fizzed, and he felt hair stand on end. _Lightning?_ And he twisted around just in time to see the boy erupt into electricity.

It was actually a rather beautiful sight; pale skin glowing under a blue cast, cerulean blue eyes half-hidden as they narrowed and shining like nothing Zack had ever seen before, not even with the potent Mako glow that Sephiroth had. His white hair (not even silver, but white!) was near fluorescent, and it stood straight from his scalp in jagged spikes, swaying to the little sparks that sometimes ignited here and there. The electricity was visible, and it wrapped around that small, diminutive form, ferocious and pulsing and snapping out with strobes of blue electric flares that made the little hairs on Zack's arms prickle like needles as they came closer and closer.

Too bad he couldn't take the time to admire, since he was too busy dodging flying electricity and the strange boy who was currently attacking him.

"Zack!"

He felt a hand grab him by the back of his shirt and his whole view of the world shifted a few degrees to the right, just as a hand missed his face by inches. In his peripheral vision he absently noted that veins bulged from underneath the skin of that small hand, its nails elongated and sharpened into deadly points, and he was profoundly glad he didn't have to find out what being impaled on it felt like.

Zack turned to the one who had saved him. "Thanks, Angeal!"

"Focus," Angeal admonished, frowning. "That's the summon?"

Sephiroth had diverted the berserk summon's attention, and was currently trying to contain it while minimizing damage to the already destroyed gym, without much success. The main reason being that it was impossible to get within three feet without receiving a particularly nasty shock. He grimaced when one electric bolt blasted past a little too close for comfort, tiny sparks jumping over the black leather of his jacket. Only his mako reflexes saved him from getting gutted as he abruptly leapt back from a jab of those strange, slightly feral pointed hands.

Genesis was yelling something in the background, and Zack just barely heard his name over the deafening crackle of electricity.

"Zack!" Genesis was saying. "For goodness' sake, cut it off!"

"Cut what off?!"

The commander pointed to his wrist, where his materia bracer was. "Your magic, you dolt!"

"Oh!" Zack immediately did so, and the summon, looking in the middle of mowing down Sephiroth, jerked to a halt and dissipated into thin air.

There was a moment of silence as the last vestiges of electricity fizzed out of the atmosphere.

Sephiroth frowned in confusion as he faintly recalled the singular expression of terror that had taken over the summon's features a second before disappearing. It was almost so brief he was tempted to call it a figment of his imagination, or even perhaps a trick of the light, but...

(Summons didn't make expressions. They were not even supposed to have emotions.)

"Well," Angeal crossed his arms across his chest and surveyed the general carnage and destruction of the gym. "That was interesting."

"Quite. I've never seen a summon attack its summoner." A smirk slowly spread on Genesis's lips. "Perhaps this proves that the Puppy really doesn't have any talent in magic."

Zack pouted. "You're so mean, Gen!"

"But it's certainly not typical behavior for a summon." Sephiroth said, not wanting to get sidetracked from the main point. He looked contemplative. "And usually I'm not one to judge by appearances, but it also looked to be quite young for one as well."

"Aw! It's a _baby_ summon!"

"Not... quite." Not that it was a problem, but merely that summons were not _supposed_ to have age, and this one looked decidedly... human. 

"What," Genesis tilted his head in question. "You couldn't possibly be thinking that it wasn't a summon? Just look what it did to the room with its powers of lightning! It's got to be at least as strong as Shiva, if not more. What else could it be?"

Sephiroth was about to answer when he was interrupted by the sound of rapid footsteps. A moment later several Turks and the President of Shinra himself appeared at the door, stopping when they took in the state of the training gym.

President Shinra whirled on the First classes within seconds. "What on earth happened here?!"

Genesis took his time admiring how the president had puffed up much like a prickly blowfish, before replying. "SOLDIERS at play, sir," he lied smoothly, though in all fairness, it was technically part of the truth. "The situation is well under control."

"Under control! What part of this--" President Shinra waved a hand at the gym. "Looks like 'under control' to you? My property is completely smashed to _smithereens!_ "

Now the President was just being dramatic. It was almost worthy of an eye-roll. "You can take it out of our paychecks."

Slightly mollified but refusing to let the matter go that easily, the President continued to give them a long spiel about respect and self-control and whatever else he could think of. The SOLDIERs (as well as the Turks) merely sighed silently and resigned themselves to another longwinded monologue from President Shinra. 

Three sips of water, several discreet jabs at Zack's fidgeting, and half an hour later, the President finally left them alone. They all breathed a sigh of relief, Zack even more so, as he shook his limbs out and jumped in place as though to make up for the previous period of inaction.

"Maybe it wasn't very wise to test out an unknown materia inside of Shinra's buildings," remarked Angeal eventually. "If you decide to use that summon again-- which I know you will, Genesis, don't even deny it-- moving off of Shinra property would be a good idea."

Genesis unsuccessfully hid a mischievous smile while Zack spoke up, now doing squats. "You gotta admit though, that sparky stuff was pretty awesome," he said with a grin.

Genesis scoffed. "Understatement. That 'sparky stuff', as you so eloquently put it, held the great General Sephiroth at bay and lit him up like a Christmas tree."

"I do not seem to recall a time in which I did so, Genesis. Though, it is in my most humble understanding that Shinra's mightiest magic user couldn't even perform a simple summon."

"I beg your pardon! I believe you had the exact same problem as well!" The redhead cast furious indignant eyes towards Sephiroth, who turned his cheek and pretended no one was trying to set fire to his face via glaring.

Angeal decided to step in before glaring could be taken a step further. "Anyway!" He turned to the grumpy Genesis. "Lets all be there when we test the materia again, considering safety precautions. We can do it this Sunday, below Plate."

"Hmph." Turning away from the General, Genesis clicked his tongue in irritation, and conceded.

 _"Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds, Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul."_ He quoted, and clucked his tongue again. Three days to wait.

Inside his pocket, the red summon materia grew ever the slightest bit warmer.


	3. Initiating

The wait was a bit painful. Genesis sat alone in his office trying to do his paperwork without much success. When the tiny print on the papers started to float off the page and perform little cartwheels in the air in front of him, he set them down with a sigh. Then he sat back against his chair and let out a larger sigh, expressing his anguish to the ceiling.

Scratch that. It was _excruciating_. Genesis swore the clock hanging on the far side of the wall was ticking _slower_ for the sole purpose of tormenting him. Sundays were the days when they got off work early, but it was still far too long of a wait when he could feel the strange summon materia in his pocket. He fished it out and inspected it again, for the umpteenth time over the past three days.

Holding it above his head, he spun in his swivel chair and admired how the translucent red of the orb caught the light and distributed it all throughout, so that it gave off a little glow and reflected off his fingers.

He glanced at the clock. It read 11:52 hours and he decided that it was close enough to noon that he could just go now.

* * *

"Genesis," Sephiroth greeted him when they all met up together at the train station.

"Good afternoon." Genesis, the silver-haired man noted, looked close to bouncing in excitement, which was a decidedly not-Genesis thing to do. Bouncing was Zack's specialty. "Did you bring--?"

"Got them." Zack lifted the flap of the small satchel he had slung over one shoulder, allowing them to catch a glimpse of metal restraints, among other things. He fastened the bag again, and patted it. "Mako-infused, SOLDIER-proof, industrial steel, even Sephiroth won't be able to break these bad boys."

They also had their weapons, including materia and spare potions just in case. After being caught off guard in the training room, they were determined not to let it happen again, lest something major happen this time. Having determined they were each properly prepared, Angeal nodded. "Alright, let's get a move on."

They arrived at lower plate, then went by foot to the outer edges of Midgar's slums, where human civilization dwindled to nothing and low-grade monsters became more frequent. It was a dilapidated warehouse they chose in the end, having a large open area with little obstacles but enclosed so it would hopefully deter any attempts to run away.

It got quiet when Genesis took out the materia and prepared to summon. He glanced at his company, seeing Angeal and Sephiroth nod, settling into defensible positions, and Zack give him a grin and heft his sword. Genesis looked back down at the materia sitting harmlessly in his grasp. He recalled the five minutes of pure destruction it released, breathed in, and gathered his magic.

This time, for whatever reason, it was much easier to activate the summon materia. Genesis hardly needed more than a strong yank at it before there was a faint pop of air in each of their ears, and the white-haired boy from before appeared before their eyes.

There was a moment of silence, then the boy blinked. And chaos assumed.

"Get it under control!" Genesis yelled, backpedalling to avoid a lightning bolt. He cringed and drew his crimson sword. When Sephiroth surged past him like a great gust of wind and engaged the summon, and he hastily tacked on, "Be careful, for goodness sake!"

Masamune sang in the air, too fast for anyone not enhanced to follow but the summon met Sephiroth straight-on. The air exploded at the moment of impact, a cloud of brilliant white-blue electricity surrounding them, the summon's feral claws making metallic screeches against the damascus steel blade. It sounded like the warehouse was suddenly filled with a thousand chirping birds.

The summon kicked off the sword, flipped once in the air and landed before launching at Sephiroth in a single smooth movement, the ground at its feet splintering under the sheer amount of power exerted upon it. Sephiroth's hair was floating in the air from the static electricity, and the General stepped back as he raised his odachi to receive the incoming attack, but this time it was Angeal who intercepted the berserk summon. Following close behind him was Zack, wielding his sword in one hand and the shackles in the other.

Hesitating, the summon seemed to realize the disadvantage, being outnumbered one to four, because it suddenly looked uncertain, and a tad fearful. Zack gasped, while Angeal and Genesis's eyes widened and Sephiroth just blinked in surprise. Because that was the _thing._

Summons don't make expressions. Emotions simply weren't part of their natural capacities. Technically, they were more of beings or deities, of creatures and concepts than any other sort. Emotions were a human thing. Zack's eyes went big, then narrowed in abrupt speculation, then widened again as he was brought back to the present, and the glowing electric boy about to run him over.

"Holy moly!" Zack dove for the ground, feeling the charged energy surrounding the boy brush just past his clothes. He rolled with his landing, coming up crouched on his feet, and he exclaimed again, "Ohmygosh, Angeal!"

"What!" Angeal grabbed the handcuffs from the air where Zack had thrown it to him. Now Sephiroth and Genesis were both engaged with the summon, and he was watching them closely.

"I think that's a human!" Zack flailed his arms, feeling incredibly excited and shocked simultaneously. "I really, really think he's human!"

"What!?" And it was just after the word left his tongue that Angeal spotted the opening he was waiting for and he rushed forward.

Angeal grabbed the summon's wrist and it literally felt like he'd just grabbed the wrong end of one of those Turk electric rods set to max level. Surprised, he wasn't prepared for the elbow to his face (that definitely broke his nose), and the swift cuff to his ear that followed it.

Grunting more out of surprise than pain, Angeal ducked and rolled to the ground to avoid any more incoming attacks. Then, through watering eyes, he caught the sight of bare feet and decided to improvise. He reached out and felt another jarring shock wrack through his body but he gritted his teeth and managed to successfully slap the handcuffs on both slender ankles just in time. Then he got blasted several feet off the ground. He saw stars when he was kicked in the gut, and let out another strained _'oof'_. That probably broke a few ribs.

Genesis shrieked (later, he would deny ever doing such a thing), almost giddy despite himself that they've finally managed to take at least one step towards containing the summon, already going for his green materia. "Angeal!"

The aforementioned man groaned as he felt Genesis's Curaga settle over him. He hastily fumbled to yank his nose straight before it could heal crooked and the broken bones in his chest mended themselves and popped back into place.

There was a short cry as the summon took two steps and tripped, the chain connecting the handcuffs much too short. Recovering fast and rolling upright again, it leapt backwards to get some distance, then wobbled precariously upon landing. Looking a bit annoyed, the summon jerked at the metal, but faltered when efforts to break the chain proved unfruitful.

With the summon's legs restrained and pretty much handicapped, they were able to back it into a corner, but couldn't venture any more than a few yards without being shocked with volts of lightning. For all that SOLDIER durability was, even a First class couldn't withstand more than several thousand milliamps before going into cardiac arrest.

For a few seconds, the four soldiers paused and lingered, unsure of what to do next. They watched the summon press tight against the wall, as though to get as far away from them as possible. They watched the fear and flashes of panic that flickered over pale features like the little sparks that danced over its hair and skin.

The electricity slowly dwindled away, dripping out of the atmosphere like wet paint in the rain. The warehouse was deafeningly quiet once the cracklings and pops of electricity that had previously filled the entire space faded. Now they could hear the soft, rapid intakes of panicked breath coming from the summon, who, without the unearthly glow that the armor of lightning it always wrapped around itself gave off, now looked no more than a normal young boy.

One that was evidently deathly afraid and quickly veering towards terror. And one that, now that there was time to actually notice it, was definitely, unmistakably wearing the kind of white garb that belonged to medical patients. A sense of foreboding started to fill the air. They all felt it.

Killua was going to suffocate. There seemed to be something pressing down on his lungs and he couldn't use his legs anymore, and everything was so big and he was so weak, there were people and ADULTS and he didn't want to be here but he didn't want to go back to that awful, terrible nothingness--

He suddenly slammed himself back against the wall, almost cracking his head on it, when one of the people reached out a hand as if to touch him.

Zack flinched a little bit at the loud noise, and drew back slightly. He sent a helpless look to the others.

Genesis looked confused. Angeal was just as puzzled as he was concerned. And Sephiroth... he showed nothing, but seemed to be looking for something in that pale, boyish face that had twisted into something so terrified it was almost painful to see.

Killua was shaking now. His fingertips pressed hard against the cold concrete of the wall behind him, feeling all the tiny nicks and grooves weathered out of it in time but not really. He was so, so lonely and lost and where was Gon? He was supposed to be with him. (And why is everything so bright so loud so big so strong, and where am I, what's happening, who are these people, where is GON.) He was disoriented and fearful and half-crazed from emotional, mental strain (what are they going to do to me, don't let me go back, please don't make me go back to there, the terrible nothingness).

He had been watching the four SOLDIERs unblinkingly all this time, and his breath hitched, then caught in his throat as he finally registered how outnumbered he was, how disproportionate his strength was to these grown men, giants in comparison. They had him surrounded, contained in a corner, there was no escape. (They were gonna, _they were gonna_ \--!)

It was... too much. He couldn't take it anymore. His mind refused to do so, no matter what his common sense said. So he broke down. His mind broke down. Everything broke. Just fucking checked out.

Killua sank to the ground, sliding down the wall and curling up into a little ball. He wrapped his arms around and over his head and refused to look at the people in front of him anymore. Let them do what they wanted. He'd lived through worse.

(Both in this time and in his previous life, he jolted as he suddenly remembered that _oh,_ this was his second life, that he had been _reincarnated_ , of all things. Gon was somewhere out there in this new world-- because he couldn't stand to think of the possibility that his friend _hadn't_ been reborn with him-- and they'd probably never even met yet because he'd spent the entirety of his second life in a cold, sterile laboratory filled with sharp steel and pain and death.)

"...hey," Zack stepped forward again. He seemed to have taken upon himself to comfort the distressed boy. "It's alright. We're not here to hurt you..." He edged closer to the white bundle on the ground and placed his hand on one shoulder. The moment he made contact, the boy reared up with a strangled gasp, and they all saw the resigned look on his face a half second before it morphed into something desperate and deadly.

"Zack!" Angeal didn't even have the time to take a single step towards his former student before the white-haired boy was upon him, small hands wrapped around his neck.

Killua felt something snap inside of him as soon as he was made aware of a touch on his shoulder. A silent roar filled his ears, and he jerked up, saw blue eyes looking down at him, and threw himself at his assailant. His momentum carried them both to the ground, with Killua straddling the man's chest and trying his best to choke the life out of him.

It all but lasted three seconds. All the ferocious determination abruptly fled from Killua and then he just looked dumbfounded, still desperate but with hope this time, cautious underneath all of it, because he realized this was Gon. He wrenched his hands away as if he had been burned.

Zack held a similar expression on his face, because at the moment of contact all the memories of a past life came rushing back to Zack and suddenly he knew he was _Gon Freecs_ in another life, and he knew _Killua Zoldyck_. In disbelief, he propped himself on his elbows so he was looking at Killua's face, and thought to himself, _yeah, this is definitely Killua-- this is definitely my friend._

"Killua?" It was more of him trying out the name on his tongue than a question, but it felt just as familiar as all the times he'd said it in his previous life. Zack (Gon?) gave a small, melancholic smile.

Relief took all the air out of Killua like a punch to the lungs, leaving him breathless and struggling to speak correctly. "G-Gon."

The smile bloomed into a dazzling grin, just as bright and radiant as Killua remembered it being and he couldn't help but bask a little in it. "It's Zack now. Zack Fair."

Killua got a strange expression then. He wasn't sure what to make of calling Gon by a different name now. Before he could formulate what to say, another voice interrupted.

"Someone tell me what's going on _right now._ "


End file.
